Wondering who had died
by SMILES01
Summary: Luca West is a 34 year old Forensic Pathologist. She spunky, and not afraid off death, shes called in one early morning and finds herself helping out the FBI with a terrorist scheme.
1. Bloody coins

I Own nothing i tell ya NOTHING!!!

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Luca stuffed her Drivers licenses, her work ID, and forty dollars cash into her back pocket as she headed to the entrance way of her apartment. She grabbed her cellphone and clipped it to her belt beside her emergency pager. Her regular pager was in her coat pocket. She wasn't going to be answering anyone back for a while. She tucked a gold pen in her shirt pocket and left her apartment wondering who had died.

She hailed a cab. She had a car in the underground parking lot, but she figured she didn't want to have to deal with other drivers, and work in the same night... er morning. She corrected herself as she looked at her watch. It was one-thirty, and normally she wouldn't have minded the page, but she only got home from work a hour ago. She had been climbing into bed,  
when her evil Emergency pager went off.

"Morning." She told the cabby. "92 3rd street." She told him. The cabby nodded and it was a silent twenty minute ride. She gave the man a generous tip and headed out. She clipped her ID to her jean pocket. She was waved through the yellow tape, before she even waved her badge.

A short pixie of a woman came running over to. She had a clipboard and evidence' bags. Luca took the clipboard with the general information of the victim. One of the bags had the mans'  
wallet in. She yawned into her shoulder, as she pulled on latex gloves. She walked into the warehouse that was to be condemned in a few weeks, and seen the rest of her team collecting all the evidence, leaving the body for her. She nodded to Larry and Matt. Larry was new on the job,  
you could tell by the way he never looked directly at the body, unless he absolutely had to.

Luca looked down and could tell the man was tortured. She lifted his suit jacket carefully. She counted fourteen stab wounds. No wonder no one was looking at the body. She started making notes right away. The thing that killed him was the bullet wound to the head, by the size of the whole, probably a 22, but the autopsy would prove it. She looked up at her pixie faced friend. "Janie before you puke and ruin the scene, go make sure Larry is taking three photos of everything. Normal, over and under exposed." She told her.

"Of course." Janie said relieved, handing the bags to her, and rushing off.

Luca laughed at her. She had quite a team. Matt and her were the oldest. He was thirty-  
five and she had that coming next month. They had been working together since Med. school. He was tall, with long brown hair held back in a pony tail, and brown eyes. Janie was next had been working for them right after graduating three years ago. She made a great assistant, she and Matt have been dating for a year now. She was classically beautiful. Sun gold blond hair, and blue eyes. She was tall and had curves in all the right spots. Larry has been working for them for a year and a half. He was the photographer, and was great when they had to unbury a cold case. He was also a good lab technician. Luca herself has been been working here for about ten years now. She kept her wheat blond hair swept up in a ponytail, she had teal eyes. She stood at six feet tall, and if came in handy when she needed Larry or Janie to do something they didn't really want to do. Though sometimes she'll admit she often got them to help her examine the body just to see them squirm. She was evil and she knew it.

"What's the initial report?" A voice asked, from behind her. It belonged to a female, or one very messed up guy.

She snorted. "He's dead!" She reported, before standing up. She came face to face with a woman with an FBI jacket on, which reminded her that she forgot hers at home. Two men were with her. The one on the left of her chuckled softly. He was tall and well built, his hair was light brown and cut short. The other one only smirked at her answer. He wasn't quite aswell built as the other man, and his hair was black and had a messy look to it.

The woman on the other hand didn't appreciate her answer what so ever. Her hair was red,  
and she was glaring at her as if she offended her grandmother. "I'm Agent Reeves, this is Agents Granger, and Eppes." The two men nodded.

"Initially, he was tortured, fourteen stab wounds, then a bullet to his head a 22'" She told them. "I'll know more after the autopsy, and once my team is finished." She looked at Agent Reeves. "Can I go back to work now?" She asked, she didn't bother with getting an answer. She knelt down again, careful with the blood puddle under the victim. She started collecting several samples of blood. It was a harsh reality, most victims with a bullet wound bled out before they made it to the morgue.

Janie came over and looked at the three Agents who were behind her boss, then grabbed the evidences Luca had already collected and headed back to where Larry was a safe distances away from the body. "You're team is a little green." Agent Granger commented.

"Who you callin' green pal?" Matt asked from were he was kneeling over a pile of garage.

"Knock it off." Luca told him, she stood up and looked at Agent Eppes. "I'd appreciate it you could control your team." She told him, glaring at Granger. "I'll have a better report on your desk in a hour." She told him. Agent Eppes nodded to his two agents and they walked off a ways. "Thank you." Luca told him.

"Sorry I didn't catch your name." Eppes replied.

"Luca West." She said. "I'd shake your hand, but-" She said holding up her hand that had blood on her latex glove.

"Raincheck." Agent Eppes told her, smiling. "Sorry about Colby." He said motioning with his head at the other agents.

"Sorry about Matt, he doesn't usually think before he speaks." She told him. Matt glared at her.

Janie came over to her with a bag in her hand. "Hey Boss." She said rather timidly. Janie was shy around strangers, and being out here in the middle of the night wasn't helping any.

"What you got?" Luca asked her. She took the bag carefully, mindful of the blood on her hands and looked at it. She seen Agent Eppes back off to talk to his team. "Get me another bag"  
She told her. Janie rushed off and came back quickly. Luca had her hold the bag open as she dumped the object in the clean bag. She pulled off her gloves folding them in on themselves so the blood was on the inside. She took the bag from Janie and jogged over to the Agents. "Looks like it's your turn." She told them. She threw the bag at Agent Eppes, he caught it and looked at the object. It was a small tube with a hole in one end.

"What is it?" He asked, handing it over to Reeves, who passed it to Granger.

"It's an RPG pin. Like your safety on your gun. It's the same concept. Except and RPG does more damage." Luca told him.

"She's right." Granger agreed, handing the evidence back to Eppes. Luca looked at him with a 'are-you-questioning-my-answer' look. "And you can bet that if they have the pins, then they have the rockets. Though we should hope not." He answered.

Eppes nodded. "Thanks. Miss West?" He asked for confirmation.

Luca just grinned at him and left. The coroners were loading the victims body into a body bag. She went back, placing another pair of latex gloves one. She crouched down and started to systematicly run her fingers through the puddle of blood. She knew a few of the local cops were starting at her as if she was insane. You just never knew what you'd find in a puddle of blood this big. This one only gave her coins. Four quarters and thirteen pennies. She placed them in an evidence bag and handed it to Matt who catalogued it, with the others. She looked at her watch as she pulled off her gloves and stuffed them in a bag with her other pair. It was just a little after five, on a Tuesday morning. She threw the bag at Matt who placed his gloves in the bag as well. Janie and Larry had left about forty minutes ago to get started on the evidences, mostly the blood samples.

"You driving or me?" Luca asked Matt as she placed the rest of their stuff on the back seat of Matts' car.

"I'm driving, since I got seven more hours of sleep then you did in the last forty-eight hours." Matt told her, opening the passenger door for her.

Luca looked at him confused. "Sleep? What is this word?" Luca teased, even though he was more then right. She had been on call oll week, since the normal night shift person had to take time off for a family crisis. On top of that she was called for the cases that required a lot of attention and it seemed that everyone knew she didn't have a life. Well that was her excuse. Matt drove off towards their office, which was right across the gangplanks. As she liked to call the raised sidewalks from one building to the FBI building across the street. "If I'm working seventy-two hours straight, I think supper/breakfast is in order." She told him, pointing to their favourite place for food anytime of the day. Chinese.

"Well I can't say no Boss." Matt said, grinning. He pulled over to the curb and she got out of the car and order what they always get. The people working the graveyard shift all said hello to her. She said hi back and her order was done in no time. She got back in Matts' car and they headed off to work.

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SO my second NUMB3RS fic. Please tell me what ya'll think PLEASE

SMILE01

In a CROWD of FRUIT LOOPS.... be a CHEERIO!! -Smile01 


	2. So do I owe you 20 bucks?

I Own nothing i tell ya NOTHING!!!

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Luca slid her ID card into the door lock and waited for the light to turn from red to green. She pushed the door open with her foot as she collected all her stuff off the floor, that she had to put down to get the door opened. She held the door for Matt, who had their food in his arms, along with the rest of the stuff. They walked down the gloomy gray hall, towards their work space. Janie was there and she quickly got the door for them. "Thanks." Luca told her, as she placed all the stuff on the work table in the middle of the room. She grabbed the Chinese cartons from Matt and handed out everyones order. She threw forks at them, and picked up her pan fried noodles and lemon chicken, doused in sweet and sour salt. She was the only one of them,  
using chopsticks.

The phone rang, and she seen Larry pick it up from her office. He came back with a nervous look as he was watching her. "Bad news Boss." Larry told her, from the other end of the room.

'Okay now she was interested' She thought as she watched Larry get more anxious. "What"  
She asked him. She really didn't think she could be that scary.

"That was LAPD, they located the next of kin and they don't want an autopsy done on the victim." Larry told her. She seen Matt and Janie look between her and Larry.

"Is the victim downstairs?" She asked him.

"Yeah we had him prepped so you could start the autopsy right away, so we could get out of here sooner." Larry told her. He grabbed the phone. "I'll call downstairs and have them transfer the body to cold storage." He told her.

"Don't bother, I won't have to cut the man up anyways. Besides I'm thinking the family wouldn't want the bullet left in his head." Luca told them. She picked up her chinese carton, and ate as she headed to the elevator. There was only one elevator that went down to the three basement floors. You had to have clearance to get to them. She turned on the lights over the body laying in the middle of the room, with a white sheet over the victim.

Janie had all the things out of the victims' wallet and spread out on the counter. Luca grinned at Janie and Larry. "I'd turn away." Luca teased them, though wasn't surprised when the looked up at Matt or the wall. Luca drew the sheet to the victims waist. Luca studied the body,  
as she ate. She was right fourteen stab wounds, all trying to miss vital organs. Though as the stabbing continued they hit some. Though her first conclusion was right, what killed him as the bullet in his head.

She set her carton down on the wheely cart beside the victims head. She poured rubbing alcohol into a petri dish and then took long needle nose tweezers. She went to work, slowly trying to take the bullet out the mans skull. One mortician had his or her work cut out for them,  
if this was going to be an open casket funeral. Which was probably why she wasn't trying to make the whole any bigger. She got the bullet out and dropped it into the alcohol filled petri dish.

"So do I owe you twenty bucks?" Matt asked, looking at the bullet in the petri dish.

Luca grinned. "It's a 22." She told him, with satisfaction. She was surprised he hasn't learned in the last fifteen years or more. "We got anything on the blood samples?" She asked,  
looking at Larry, who was standing beside the door, looking green. She really did wonder how he and Janie made it through Med School.

Larry picked up a file. "He was shooting up. Heroin."

"He was a junkie?" Matt asked surprised, he was going through the victims clothes in the corner, looking for unidentified hair and fibres or whatever else that looked suspicious. "Well this suit is dry clean only, so the man could afford it." Matt commented.

Luca looked over all the items in the mans' wallet. "He has an organ donor sticker on his license." Luca stated. "Poor sucker." Luca said quietly. "You're organs are damaged goods." She said talking to the victim. She heard Matt and Janie chuckle, they all knew she had a habit of muttering to the dead. She ignored them. She continued filling out the proper forms, since she couldn't to an actual autopsy she had to restore to carefully poking around. 'Stupid people' She thought. 'It's a murder investigation'

"Janie, Larry you two want to gather up all the none bio. evidence and store it in the safe, then you two can head out." Luca told the two. They quickly scurried about. Janie collected the contents of the victims wallet and placed them back in the exact order she had taken them out. Janie liked to be organized. The two of them disappeared out of the lab doors,  
and up to her office. "Matt when you're done there get out of my sight." Luca told him teasingly.

"Well that is sooner then later." Matt told her, putting the articles of clothing back in individual bags. "I'll put these in the safe in your office. Make sure to lock it." Matt reminded her.

"Have a great morning." Luca said as he left the Lab. She moved to sit in front of the computer. She placed the form in the fax machine and pressed Agent Don Eppes fax machine code in.  
She sat eating what was left of her meal, while staring at the body. The lab phone started ringing. "West here." She said, automatically. "Sure, I'll meet you at the entrance in ten minutes." She told the police officer, she hung up the phone and walked over to the victim. She pulled the sheet up over his face, before walking out to the elevators. LAPD was bring over the family to ID the body.

She walked to her office and closed the safe as she waited. She walked to the door, just as the officer knocked. She opened the door and ushered them. They followed her into the elevator. She used her ID card in the lock scanner to gain access to the Lab. She walked over to the far said of the body. "Sorry." She apologized as she pulled the sheet down to the victims neck. She was glad that she remembered to cover the bullet hole with a wash cloth.

The older woman with the officer started crying. "Yes that is my husband." She told the officer, and Luca.

Luca nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss." Luca told her. "Please I know this is not the time to ask, but would you allow me to do an autopsy on your husband?" She asked. She was kicking herself for letting Janie and Matt from leaving. They were the people person types. There was a reason why she worked with the dead.

The woman looked at her. "No! I don't give you permission!" The woman told her sternly.  
"You are not cutting up my husbands' body."

It took alot from Luca to keep her comments to herself. "You do realize he was murdered"  
She asked her. "You know someone killed him." She stated annoyed. "Come on I'll show you out"  
She told them, not wanting to say something that would get her in trouble with the people upstairs. She stayed quiet the entire time. Until the exit. "Bye." She told them, both. She went backstairs and moved the body to one of the cold storage boxes that lined the wall. First she placed a tag on the victims big right toe. She lined up the steel gurney with the table and then pushed the steel bed into the cold storage, before closing the door.

NUMB3RS

Don sat at his desk reading over what they had so far, and looking at pictures of the weapons they think the enemy has. They were quite impressive and could do alot of damage. His fax machine went off and a page from the coroners lab across the street came in. He pulled it out of the machine and looked at. What shocked him the most was it was unfinished, at the bottom handwritten was a note that the wife of the victim wouldn't let them do an actual autopsy.

"Megan!" Don called.

Megans' head came up from where she was talking to Colby at his desk. "Yes Don?" She asked.

"Can you and Colby go to the victims wife and ask her to reconsider the no autopsy?" Don asked her.

"Sure." Megan told him, taking the address from Don.

Don watched them leave, before turning back to the reports he had been reading. He wasn't surprised that Megan called him a hour later, though the news was discouraging. "Eppes." He said,  
as he answered his cell phone. He listened to Megan. Looks like she couldn't get the wife to change her mind. "Okay, I'll contact Forensics." Don told her, before closing his phone. He picked up the phone on his desk and asked the FBI phone operator to put him through to Forensic Pathologist Luca West. He looked at his watch as he waited, it was after five-thirty. All the phone did was ring, then the answering machine picked up. He hung up. 'He'll try later'

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Chap. 2! What ya think??? 


	3. Two rings

I Own nothing i tell ya NOTHING!!!

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Luca stood in the empty lab. Well empty of living people. Just her and seven and half (don't ask) dead people. She knew what she was about to do would get anyone but her fired. Which is why she was even considering it. She walked over to the computer and closed down all the open documents. She double clicked on L.W. playlist and Theory of a Deadman started to fill up the lab. She turned the volume up. She walked over to the last victim and pulled him out of cold storage. She drew the sheet back to his waist and started to examine the stab wounds. She wasn't going to have to do much cutting, if any to see if there was anything out the ordinary. The song switched to Great Big Sea, 'It's the end of the world.' She started to hum along as she continued. She was going to have to sew him up anyways. All organs were accounted for, or well at least what was left of them. She couldn't see anything else that would suggest that they were just stabbing him, for the fun of it.

She sewed all the wounds up, before putting him back in his cold cell. She took off her latex gloves and threw them out on her way to the sink. She washed her hands, then turned down the music. She glanced at her watch. If she was going to get through the day, she was in need of good coffee now. She left the lab and made sure it locked. She headed upstairs to her office. She had to pass the receptionist. Her name was Maddie, she didn't like Luca very well. Luca had a thing about rubbing people the wrong way. Maddie had been here for five years, she was three years older then Luca and hated her the first time they met. Then as she got to know Luca, she hated her even more. 'So what my humour is a little morbid and dark' Luca thought as she waved at Maddie, on her way out. She walked down to the corner cafe to get some real tasting coffee, then the stuff her office called coffee, which was just black death. Normally Luca would drink it, but she had time to go get some good coffee. She opened the door and wasn't surprised that by the time she got to the front of the line it was waiting for her. She really needed to get a life. She paid the girl, and said hello, before walking out. She ran right into Specail Agent Don Eppes, and Agent Reeves. "Sorry." Luca told him, as the door hit him. "Should have been watching."

"No harm done." Don told her smiling. He held the door open for Luca, and for Megan to enter. "Megan be with you in a minute." Don told her. Megan nodded and went to stand in line. "What are the chances of you getting the widow to allow an autopsy?" Don asked her. They stood outside of the coffee shop, out of the way of people walking by.

"Considering I'm the last person you want to get talk to someone who's husband was just murdered. Slim." She told him, she played with her coffee lid. "Besides I already asked." She told him. Don looked at her surprised. "She gave a very serious now." Luca told him. "Besides"  
Luca was interupted by Megans' return. "Agent Reeves." Luca said politely.

"Hello." Megan told her, handing Don his coffee. He thanked her. "So we couldn't get the widow to change her mind."

Luca nodded. "So what were you saying? Besides what?" Don asked.

Luca took a sip of her coffee. "Doing a full autopsy would actually be a waste of time,  
at least on the body. There is nothing there that we don't already know. I'll keep running the blood samples we got from the crime scene."

"How do you know it would be a waste of time?" Agent Reeves asked.

"It's not exactly like I needed to cut the body up. Someone else did that for me."

"So you did the short version of an autopsy even though you knew the next of kin didn't give the go ahead." Agent Reeves asked shocked. "Do you have any respect for the dead and their loved ones?" She asked her, angrily. "I mean first the joke at the crime scene, and now you are going against the wishes a widow. If you haven't realized it yet, but the woman just lost her husband."

Luca shook her head. "What would know about losing a husband?" She asked her, glancing at Reeves left hand. No ring. "Don't try to profile me. Agent Reeves you'll find that you are quite mistaken in what you think you know about me." She told them. "Agent Eppes." She said, making the motion as if she was tipping her hat in goodbye. She glanced at Megan. "Reeves." She said, before disappearing into the lunch hour crowd. Leaving them both in stunned silence. Lucas' hand went to the necklace she wore automatically, as she made her way to her office.

Maddie was sitting at the front desk, poping her chewing gum, while talking on the phone,  
in the manner she was talking she knew it wasn't a business call. Luca didn't even bother with shooting Maddie a remark. She was tired of people, which is probably why she headed to the lab. She should have been surprised when Matt was standing in the middle of the room, but she wasn't.  
He was looking over the second report she did on their latest victim. She grabbed it from his hand. "You shouldn't be looking at that." She told him. "This way when they ask, you can truthfully say you had nothing to do with it." She told him. "What are you doing here anyways?  
What part of go away do you not understand?" She snapped at him.

Matt threw his hands up in surrender. "I just came back, because Janie left her bracelet on the counter. She didn't want it to get bloody." Matt told her. "So who pushed your buttons this afternoon?"

Luca looked up at him acting innocently. "No one." She replied calmly.

Matt shook his head walking past her. He stopped long enough to snag the chain around her neck. "Somethings you need to let go." Matt told her softly, letting the chain fall down the front of her shirt. "It's what he would have wanted. For you to move on and be happy." Matt stated. "Not that I don't love this you. You can be quite humourous, but the old you wasn't half bad either." Matt told her, leaving the lab with Janies' necklace in his hand.

Luca fingered the two rings on the chain around her neck. She knew Matt was right, but letting go, felt like forgetting. Being happy with someone else felt like she was betraying her deceased husband.

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Short Chap I know, but i figured I'll end the chapter here. Hope you enjoyed!!!!!!!!!

sorry for the cliffy/spin on things :P:D not really THAT sorry though 


	4. always someone dead

I Own nothing i tell ya NOTHING!!!

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Luca was glad the day was over. Now she could go home and sleep... until another one dies. 'No respect for the dead. humph' Luca thought, tucking her ID card into her pocket. 'They have no respect for the sleep deprived living.' She thought as she walked past the front desk.  
Maddie was just putting the phone down.

"Luca!" She said, practically singing. She was in a good mood, which meant Luca wasn't about to be. Luca turned on her heels, raising her eyebrows at her. "You have been requested at a crime scene." Maddie told her, smiling.

"Requested?" Luca asked, suspiciously.

"Mr. Linspin said you should be the one there." Maddie told her. "I can contact your team if you want me too." Maddie added. She really was in a good mood.

Luca sighed. 'See! No respect for the living.' She thought as she headed back to her office. "Call them." She called back to her. She opened her office and grabbed what stuff she was going to need. Knowing that Janie and Matt would have supplies and Larry would have his camera equiptment already in their cars. She headed back out with her stuff and flagged a cab. She told them him where she was going. It took thirty minutes to get almost there, the rest of the way was clogged with traffic. She paid the cabby and got out and started walking. She flagged down a LAPD officer and he helped her. She looked around and seen the firemen where putting out the last of the flames. They were in the condemned part of town. No one lived anywhere near the place, unless they were homeless. She looked around and seen that only Larry was here. He was already taking pictures. He looked over at her and nodded a hello. She smiled sadly back. Today was suppose to be their night off. She set up her stuff on the hood of an SUV that was closest to what looked like the remains of a car. She pulled on latex gloves and stuffed a bunch of evidence bags in her back pocket. She walked over the hose, as the firemen were putting away their gear. She leaned in closer careful not to touch the still smoldering remains. It looked to be a white utility van.  
What was left of one. The side she was looking at looked to have been forced inwards then blowned outwards, by a greater force. She noticed what was left of a cone shaped weapon. A RPG did this kind of damage. No wonder she was called in. She looked in to the front seat and seen the crispy remains of two humans. Obviously they hadn't seen it coming. They still had their seat belts on.

"Do you ever sleep?" A voice asked from behind her.

She stood up and turned around. She smiled. "Special Agent Eppes." She greeted. "Sleep is a luxury that I can't seem to afford." She said answering his question.

He laughed and she liked the sound. "Know the feeling. Dead can't wait?" He asked, grinning.

"Guess not. I was on my way home when I was called here." She told him, going back to looking over the van. "Now I know why." She told him, picking at the metal on the edge of the destroyed van. It fell apart in her hand.

"Is this a RPG?" Don asked, pulling on his own set of latex gloves.

Luca nodded. "They are making sure that you know how serious they can be." She told him,  
lightly touching the handle on the passenger door. She cursed and moved her hand away. It was still extremely hot. She carefully pulled on the latex glove. Her palm was red, but it seemed all right.

"You okay?" Don asked, looking at her hand.

"I'll live." She told him, pulling on another glove. Matt jogged over to her. He had a pair of firemen gloves tucked into the back of his jeans. She pulled one out and put it over her hand. She touched the door again making sure the gloves did their job, before pulling on the handle gently, she wasn't surprised that the handle came off in her hand. She dropped it. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her knife. She flipped it open and cut what was left of the seatbelt off. She grabbed the other, and took ahold of the sides of the door. "I'd back off." She told Matt and the Agent. She tugged and was surprised when it came apart easily. She fell on her ass, with the remains of the door on top of her.

She heard Matt roaring with laughter. She also noticed that a fireman came over and helped Agent Eppes get the door off her. Eppes offered his hand and he pulled her to her feet.  
She looked down at her now black clothing. She sighed, she liked this shirt. She slapped Matt in the back of the head as she moved off to the side to brush the black dust off her clothes. All it did was make if worse.

"You all right?" The fireman asked, watching her. He had a grin on his face.

Luca couldn't help but grin back. "Peachy." She told him. She walked over to the van,  
giving the door on the ground a kick. "I hate you!" She muttered to it. She looked up when she heard someone chucke. It was Agent Eppes. She glared at him, and he smiled back. She waved Larry over and got him to take about sixty pictures of the remains, before letting the coroners on the scene deal with the cripsy remains. She really didn't mind moving the bodies to the bags,  
but that was what they were here for, so they might aswell get paid for working. "Here is a stupid question." She said, looking over at Agent Eppes, who was joined by the big smart-aleck Agent. Eppes looked up at her. "Did the bomb squad double check the ordinates, before I started messing around with the van?" She asked him.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't let you anywhere near the van if that was the case." Agent Eppes told her, smiling.

"Hmph!" Luca retorted, before opening the glove box. She was surprised that some of the papers in there made it. She took them out one by one, trying not to rip them anymore then they already were. She placed them each in their own evidence bag. She looked at Matt who was on the other side. "When did you get here anyways?" She asked him.

"Ten minutes before the door fell on you." Matt told her grinning. She glared at him, and he just smirked.

"Janie!" Luca called.

Janie appeared on her right, right away. She wasn't too surprised since the bodys were safely covered on the ground five feet away from them. Luca handed the papers protected by plastic to her. She scurried off towards Matts' car. "Thanks, by the way." Matt told her. Luca looked at him.

"For giving us the day off." Matt told her. "Finally a lunch date I could keep, it was quite nice." Matt explained.

"If Janie is happy, it means I can ask her to help with the bodies. Kinda like you owe me one." Luca told him, grinning.

Matt frowned. "What do you want?" He asked her suspiciously.

"Some sleep." Luca told him, as she moved away from the van so Larry could take a few more shots.

Matt got out of Larrys' way as well. "I think that the three of us, can cover you." Matt told her.

"What are we covering?" Janie asked, coming over to Larry and giving him another memory card. Larry passed her the full one.

"We are covering for Luca, while she goes home and sleeps." Matt told her.

"We can manage." Janie assured her.

"Actually it looks like we could finish up here. The FBI are just leaving now, they are leaving the transportation of the van to us. We'll have it in our garage warehouse." Matt told her. "Why don't you go hail a cab and sleep for a few hours. Come back in tomorrow, normal shift hours."

Luca yawned. "Are you tell me what to do?" She asked, raising her left eyebrow.

"Right now." Matt said, turning her around and giving her a push. "Yes! Get out of here."

Luca walked back to the SUV she had her stuff all over. She started packing it up. "So you are the one who left your stuff scattered about on the hood of my vehicle." Agent Eppes accused.

Luca was about to say something when Janie ran up to her. "Luca I got this stuff." She told her, taking the travel cases. "Get out of here." Janie told her sternly, as she walked back to Matts' car.

"Being kicked off the site?" Agent Eppes asked surprised.

"My team can handle the rest. I'm going home." She told him.

"So would dinner be out of the question then?" Agent Eppes asked, stopping her from walking any farther.

Luca looked at him, then looked down at her clothes. "It will have to be a place where I can walk in like this." She told him. "Or I'll have to go home and change."

Eppes smiled. "I know the perfect place." He told her. He opened the passenger door for her. She thanked him. He turned on his coloured lights and they let him past the yellow tape. He headed in the direction of Chinatown. She wasn't surprised that he pulled up to the curb in front of one. They ordered take out and sat on one of the outdoor tables.

"Thanks for this." Luca said, holding on the chinese carton. She leaned back and rested her feet on the empty chair beside her.

Eppes smiled at her. "Anytime." He told her. "How long have you been with Forensics?"

"Almost ten years." Luca told him. "Went to Med school, then dead school." She joked.

Eppes laughed. "Have you always wanted to be a Forensic Pathologist?"

Luca smiled. "Wanted to be one since I was fourteen, and my grade nine science class took a trip the morgue." Luca told him.

"The morgue?" Eppes asked surprised. "Biology has a whole new meaning." He commented.

"Small town, wasn't much you could do that would be interesting. Dead people was quite a hit with the grade nine guys. The girls in the class didn't quite enjoy it as much." She explained.

"Except you." Eppes replied.

"Yes well I was more of 'one of the guys' back then."

"Some how I can't imagine you being one of the guys." He told her. Luca just smiled at him. She threw her carton into the trash can behind Eppes, and it went cleanly in. She picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. "Nice shot." He replied.

"Thanks." She told him. Her eyes slipped closed for an instant. "Sorry I'm fading on you." She told him.

Eppes laughed. "Well come on I'll take you home." He said standing up. He opened her door again for her. She nodded her thanks. "So where am I going?" He asked, turning the engine on.

"St. Michaels' St." She told him. "So what about you? Always wanted to be FBI?" She asked him.

"Nope. Went to college on a baseball scholarship. After I hit my first homerun, I knew that I wasn't going to the majors. So I signed up for the FBI entrance course the next day."

"All because of a homerun?" Luca asked, laughing. "Some homerun that was."

Eppes grinned. "Well I'm sitting here with you, so I'm not going to complain."

"Smooth Eppes, smooth." She told him, as he pulled in front of her apartment complex. She undid her seat belt. "Thanks for dinner, and the ride." She told him. "I'm sure I'll see you soon." She told him, opening the door.

Eppes smiled. "Sadly, there is always someone dead." He told her, smiling as she walked up the front steps into her apartment building.

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Another chapter done!!! yippie

SMILE01 


	5. Just might do that

I Own nothing i tell ya NOTHING!!!

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Luca didn't waste time. She walked up the stairs and turned on the shower, leaving it to warm up while she went to her bed room and grabbed clean clothes. She was going to have to scrub the ones she wore to get them clean. She threw them in the sink as she stepped into the shower. She was pulling on her shirt when her pager went off. She was relieved that it was her regular pager, and not her emergency pager. It meant she could deal with who ever is paging tomorrow. She looked at the number. She wasn't even going to bother answering them back. She collapsed on her bed and pulled the covers over top of her and fell asleep. She woke up with her alarm and pushed it off the nightstand. She had enjoyed the uninterupted sleep. She rolled over as she yawned.  
She had an hour before work started. She got up and pulled on jeans and a white tank top, before stuffing her arms into a dark red button up shirt. She left the buttons undone as she headed into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out the milk carton. She opened it and sniffed, she frowned slightly, before pouring it into a bowl. No lumps, it was still good. She added Captain Crunch to it and grabbed a spoon. She sat at her bar while she ate, watching cartoons on the kids channel. Danny Phatom was on, she quite enjoyed the show. She rinsed her dishes and left them in the sink, as she started doing up her shirt. She never understood why she was suppose to dress dressy for her job. She dealt with the dead, she didn't think they'd care, beside they were usually messy. She threw her hair up in a ponytail as she grabbed what she needed for work.  
On her way to the door she picked up a gold pen, before locking the door.

She got to the office and wasn't surprised that Matt and Janie were in the break area,  
sitting at one of the tables with cups of coffees in front of them. Larry was sitting in the corner leaving the two love birds to themselves. He was reading a book. She wasn't surprised when all three noticed her walk by. She waved at them and went back to her office. It was an ugly shade of off white, and only had three pictures on the desk, other then that it was devoid of personal items. She sat down and picked up the reports Matt and the other two left her from the two burned remains of yesterday. She also noticed someone added their medical history files to the stack. She went through her teams work, before reading the medical history of the two victims. Something caught her attention on the passenger of the van. She flipped back to the pictures Larry took of the lungs that Matt took out to examine. Something wasn't right. She seen Janie come into her office with a cup of coffee.

"Hey Janie. I need you to get Agent Eppes on the phone or here in person." She told her,  
as she stood up with the files in her hand. "I'll be downstairs. Matt and Larry there already"  
Luca asked. Janie nodded as she picked up the phone in Lucas' office.

Luca hurried down the hall to the elevator that went to the labs underground. She walked in on Matt and Larry debating who was going to win the baseball game tonight. The Cubs or the Yankees. Luca handed Matt the picture of the victims lung, and then the medical history sheet she wanted him to look at. "What's wrong with the picture." She asked him, as Larry looked over his shoulder.

"Holy Shit." Matt cursed, looking over at Larry to see if he picked up on it.

Larry picked up on it. "I'll work on it." He told her, going to sit at the computer and started to madly type away.

Janie came in, holding the door open for Agents Eppes and Granger. "Good to see you so late in the morning." Agent Eppes told her teasing. Luca grinned at him. "Heard you had something for us."

Luca handed them the pages. Granger looked down at the picture the medical history report. "This means nothing to me." He told her.

"Didn't think so, but I thought I'd show you. See the medical report tells us that our victim has had pneumonia in the last year. Which would mean that after fighting off a disease that serious the lungs would still have serious scarring. If you look at the picture, our crispy victim has no lung scars what so ever."

"Which means we have one missing person and one John Doe?" Agent Eppes asked her, to make sure he had it right.

"Yes. Which is probably bad news. Larry is checking dental records, we didn't do it initially, since we thought he was ID. We never thought that someone may have switched the body"  
Luca explained.

"Which means that our missing Henry Cooper." Agent Granger said, looking at the medical file in his hand. "Could be in on it." He suggested, looking over at his boss.

"It's a possiblity." Eppes told him. "You and David run with that idea." He told him.  
Agent Granger got up and Janie escorted him out. Eppes looked over at Luca. "If you ID the John Doe give me a call." He told her, giving her his card. "Try my cell first." He told her.

"Got it." Luca told him. "I'll take you back upstairs." She told him. He held the door open for her. "Thanks." She told him.

NUMB3RS

Don stood beside Luca as they waited for the elevator to come back down. He glanced over at her. "Would you like to join me for dinner tomorrow night?" He asked her. "This time though,  
no curb side table." He asked as they got into the elevator

Luca smiled at him. "I'd love to." She told him, as they got to the front door.

"Good." Don told her. "If you have a little black dress, I suggest you wear it." He told her, grinning.

Luca grinned back. "I just might do that." She told him as she let the door close behind him. She went back to the lab to help up Larry and Matt.

"Boss sorry that we didn't catch it in the first place." Larry apologized for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

"Cool it Larry. It's an honest mistake." She told him. "Find anything?" She asked him.

"No matches yet. Though I it will take a few hours." Larry told her. "It's a pretty large database."

"All right. Keep working on it." Luca told him, as she walked over to Matt. "Do you and Janie have plans tomorrow night?" She asked him, as she sat on the counter beside where he was standing.

Matt frowned at her a moment. "No." He said cautiously. "What do you need?" He asked her.

He knew her too well. "A trade of pager war." She told him. "You cover my emergency pager tomorrow evening and I'll cover yours for the entire weekend." She explained.

Matt chuckled. "You that desperate?" He asked her. "What are you doing?" He asked raising his eyebrows.

Luca huffed. "If you must know I'm going out on a date." She told him smugly.

Matt grinned. "In that case I'll cover you tomorrow, if you let Janie off the hook for dealing with the bodies for a month." He replied, changing the deal. He extended his hand.

Luca sighed sadly. Then shook his hand. "Fine." She told him. "You better tell her you are her knight in shining armour." Luca told him, jumping off the counter. "I don't want her to think I've gone soft." She told him as both of their pagers went off. "Speaking of the dead." She told him. Larry picked up the phone and was already talking to Maddie about the details of where they were heading as Janie came into the lab. "Janie stay here and call me if and when a match comes up in the dental records database." Luca told her, as she and Matt hurried about grabbing cases of supplies.

"What?" Janie asked surprised. "You mean I'm staying here?" She said grinning.

"Don't go kissing Lucas' feet." Larry told her, as he hung up the phone. "Matt just made a deal with the devil herself." Larry told her. He ducked as Matt walked by and tried to smack the back of his head.

Janie grinned and walked over and kissed Matt in front of them. "Get a room!" Luca and Larry shouted at the same time as Larry and her headed out of the lab, to the elevator. Matt jogged up behind them as Luca held the door with her foot. "Come on Hippie." She told him. "Can't stand like this forever."

"Coming boss." He told her as he got in. "Where we going?"

"To the a lake." Larry told them. "Someone was pulled out of the water. LAPD says they drowned but they said the scene looked too perfect or something." Larry told them.

"Which means we need one of the vans." Matt said, loping over to one of the plain white vans. He got behind the wheel, he was grinning like a kid on christmas.

"Larry, taking your car?" Luca asked him.

"Yes. All my camera stuff is in there." He told her heading to the end of the parking garage.

"That means I ride with the dummy." Luca said, heading towards Matt. She heard Larry laughing at her comment. "Please don't kill us." Luca told him, teasing. As they followed Larry to the scene.

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Evil Plot bunnies.... SOrry me trying to resist to start another story of NUMB3RS until at least one of these is finished. Hopefully I beat temptations ss...

I hope liked the chapter. Reviews are always welcomed. Enjoy your day/evening SMILE01 


	6. Shes got it

I Own nothing i tell ya NOTHING!!!

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Luca and Matt walked around the crime scene after they were done with bagging what evidence they had found. Luca stopped at the end of the dock and frowned. The wood was cracked and broken in a strip about the width of a car. It looked fairly new. She looked over the edge into the water. She groaned, as she jogged back to the van. She grabbed the water proof flashlight and goggles. She kicked her shoes off at the dock as she placed the goggles over her head. She turned the light on and then held on to the goggles as she jumped into the water feet first.

"Luca!" Matt yelled at her as she went under water. He seen the light a few times then nothing. He looked at his watch and waited.

"What happened?" F.B.I. Agent Colby Ganger asked as he stripped off his suit coat, and was about to kick off his shoes aswell when Matt stopped him. Agent Don Eppes was beside him.

"She's got it." Matt told them, looking at the spot where Luca had disappeared.

"She who?" Don asked looking at the shoes on the dock and the spot where Matt was staring at.

"Luca." Matt told him, leaning over and putting a yellow evidence marker beside the broken dock.

"How long can she hold her breath for?" Colby asked, he hadn't seen any air bubbles yet.

Matt glanced at him and grinned. "She can hold her own." Matt told him. "Just as long as you or longer Agent Granger."

Colby laughed. "Not likely I was in the core, even went through Hell week." He told him.  
Matt raised his eyebrows. "No kidding. She was in the army?" Colby asked surprised.

Don looked at Matt surprised. Matt laughed. "Nope. Her husband was though." Matt answered.

"Her husband?" Don asked, he hadn't seen a ring on her finger and she agreed to go out to dinner with him.

"Cool it." Matt told him. "He died."

"Oh." Don answered as Luca surfaced.

She grabbed on to the dock and held herself up as she caught her breath. "Matt get a tow truck here." She told him, lifting herself out of the water and on to the dock. She sat by her shoes and Larry came over and threw a towel over her head. "Thanks." She told him, drying her hair as best as possible.

"You find something?" Colby asked.

"A blue car, looks like it hasn't been under there very long." She told him, as Matt came back to them.

"Will be here in five." He told her.

The tow truck was waved past the yellow tape and backed up to the dock. A big burly man stepped out and came around to the back of his truck. "So where is this car?" He asked impatiently. All five of them pointed down into the water. "Now how the heck am I suppose to get it tied off?" He asked them, as he looked over te edge. Luca rolled her eyes and went over to the truck and started pulling on the cable. She placed her goggles back on and walked off the dock with the hook in her hand. The man shouted at her but it was too late, she was under and already they couldn't see her flashlight glow. "Is she serious?" The man asked the group of men around him.

They all looked at Matt. "Yes." Matt replied, as Luca reappeared. Don and Colby leaned down and pulled her out of the water this time.

"Thanks." She told them, grabbing her shoes and towel. "Start towing." She told the man,  
as she walked across the pavement to her truck in her socks. Matt followed her.

"Do you think its part of this case?" Matt asked.

Luca switched her shoes. "Not a clue. We'll know more once the car gets back to the garage." She told him, as they watched the tow truck pull the car out of the water.

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Hopes you likes 


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